Thursday, March 21, 2013

Yangon - Bogyoke Aung San Museum

It was early in the morning when my flight landed YangonInternationalAirport. My plan to secure
a night bus ride to Bagan has me taking a taxi to the main bus terminal, Aung
Mingalar bus terminal, first before proceeding to downtown Yangon.
Little did I know that I can actually purchase the same bus ticket within the
city centre, thus, saving me an unnecessary trip. Well, not that big of a deal.

A neighbourhood in downtown Yangon

Once in the city centre, I began exploring the neighbourhood
as well as scouting for potential hotel to call it my home for my last night in
the country. I did not make any hotel reservations at all for this round as I
want to survey around the city. Eventually, I made a reservation in Okinawa
Hotel for a double room (they ran out of dormitory beds) for USD 28.00 per
night. A waste of money, as it turned out, for my plan detoured. More on that
soon.

The many colonial buildings in the city centre

While I did not spend much time in the city, I did however
go to a few tourist spots and one of them is the Bogyoke Aung San Museum. This
museum is dedicated to showcase the life of General Aung San, a revered
revolutionary and nationalist as well as the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, the
Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Bogyoke Aung San Museum

The building that houses this museum is actually the home
that Aung San Suu Kyi grew up in. We are given a glimpse of the Bogyoke’s
(that’s general in Burmese) life as most of the exhibitions in the museum are
of his belongings such as family portraits, furniture, clothing, and so on.
Besides that, memorable speeches and quotes delivered by the general are also
on display, giving visitors a sense of how the man became the revered man he is
today.

The family house of the General, now a museum

As I toured around the house, I can understand the strong love
for her country in Aung San Suu Kyi’s heart. Growing up in such a strong patriotic
household, how can you not be instilled with these characteristics?

If you have a few moments to spare, why not give this museum
a visit when you are in Yangon?

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of
information.

The entrance fee to Bogyoke Aung San Museum is 300 kyats
(the exchange rate for kyat is about USD 1.00 to 848 kyats) and it is advisable
to take a taxi to go to the museum for it is not located along main road. Taxi
fare should cost around 2,000 kyats. The museum opens from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm and closes on Mondays, Tuesdays and gazetted holidays. No photography is allowed in the museum.

hey there jeff. really interested to check out your plan to visit merapi. i plan to go there too, but still doing some study. appreciate if you cud share your itteranary. looking forward for ur reply.-syima. (my_aspire@hotmail.com) hope you could email me at the soonest. thank you in advance :)